The draw for the Europa League play-offs is coming – how will English teams be affected and who will get a bye to the last 16?
The draw for the play-offs will only affect the teams that finish second in their Europa League groups, each competing against one of eight teams that finish third in their Champions League groups.
It means every winner of the Europa League group gets a round – and goes straight to the last 16, meaning you don’t have to worry about European football until March 9.
Both English teams in this season’s Europa League, Arsenal and Manchester Unitedhave already qualified from the group stage.
However, United could only finish second to Real Sociedad in their group, meaning they will have to play a play-off, while Arsenal will have to beat Zurich on Thursday to claim first place.
When is the draw for the Europa League play-offs?
The draw will take place on Monday 7 November at 12 noon in the House of European Football at UEFA’s headquarters in Switzerland.
How does the draw work?
The eight Europa League group winners will be seeded to face one of the eight third-placed teams from the Champions League group stage.
The only limitation concerns national associations – at this stage no two sides from the same area can be drawn against each other.
The Europa League final will be played on May 31, 2023 at the Puskas Arena in Budapest
What happens to the group winners?
They miss the draw and receive a bye to the round of 16. On February 24, they will be seeded and drawn against one of the eight winners of this play-off round.
Again, teams from the same association cannot be drawn together.
Who will be in the play-off draw?
Europa League second-placed teams, seeded
- Manchester United
- Central Jutland
- Nantes
- Monaco
Champions League third-placed teams, not seeded
- Ajax
- Barcelona
- Bayer Leverkusen
- Juventus
- RB Salzburg
- Seville
- Shakhtar Donetsk
- Sporting Lisbon
When will the matches be played?
The first legs of the last play-off round will be played on February 16, 2023, with the return legs a week later.
